How to Locate Genealogy/Ancestry Sources

Getting started with your research:

General Tips:

• Keep a record of your research. You can use the ancestry.com form or any forms located on the internet
• Consult or interview family members
• Use your family bible or family records hidden in attics.
• First rule of genealogical research is to start with yourself or a parent and work backwards
• The Federal Census was first conducted in 1790 and is conducted every ten years
• However, due to Federal Privacy laws, no federal records within a seventy two years period are open to the public.
• Start with a family member with the 1940 census.
• Many Public Libraries have a genealogy department and local historical records to help with your genealogy searches.
• Scan or take digital photographs of family documents and family heirlooms that are held by your family members.

Common Mistakes:

• Failing to keep records
• Assuming you are related to a famous person who shares the same surname
• Ignoring the siblings of the ancestors you are researching.
• Jumping to a conclusion based on insufficient evidence, keep copies of birth, death and other documents
• Overlooking maiden names
• Skipping a generation
• Assuming a name is spelled only one way
• Failing to recognize a misleading or unreliable internet website.
• Being unaware that African American searches maybe located in the back of documents in a colored section of a record group. In the military, African Americans served in segregated units until the army was integrated in 1952.
• Not understanding the history of a region ( Examples: United States- South: during the Civil War documents were destroyed & Europe: borders have shifted during and after wars)

Databases:

Ancestry. Com

Tips on getting started and how to use- Click here
A valuable genealogical database containing worldwide census, birth, death, marriage, military service, immigration, court, and other useful family research records and information. The database can only be accessed on campus due to the limited licensing agreement through the State Library of Ohio.

19th Century U.S. Newspapers Digital Archive

19th century of hundreds of United states newspapers digital Archives

17th - 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers

Online access to the newspapers and news pamphlets gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757 - 1817), representing the largest single collection of 17th and 18th century English news

Websites:

General Websites

1940 US Census
One-step search to locate ancestor in the 1940 US Census

Ellis Island Databases
Enables the researcher to check for European immigrants who came through Ellis Island between 1892-1924

FamilySearch.org Family History and Genealogy Records
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints provides this site, which lets you search their Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index, Pedigree Resource File, and web sites (by last name only).

Family TreeMaker Online
The Family TreeMaker Online offers professional research services, message boards for genealogists, and searchable databases. Most services and databases are only accessible with purchase of the Family TreeMaker program.

Legacy Worldwide newspapers obituaries
Legacy.com collaborates with more than 1,500 newspapers in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

National Park Services-Civil War
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.

The RootsWeb Surname List
The RootsWeb Surname List is a searchable index from the RootsWeb Homepage. Type in the surname you are trying to find and a list of genealogists researching the same name will be returned.

Tony Burroughs Genealogy Website
Tony Burroughs is an internationally known genealogist, author and lecturer. He is frequently interviewed in local, national and international media for his genealogy expertise. This website is great for African American ancestry searching.

The U.S. Genealogy Web Project
"The US Gen Web Project is a loosely organized group of volunteers working to create a center for genealogical research for every county in the United States. All counties have an area for you to post queries and links to the state page and archives.

Wayne County Library Genealogy Department
Genealogy and Local History Department of Wayne County Library

Native American Indians Ancestry:Websites

U.S Department of Interior
Provides general information as to where individuals can look in order to find the appropriate information.

National Archives
Federal documents related to American Indians at the National Archives can include information about tribal members.

Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 1793-1989
Contains record between 1793-1989

American Indians In Census Records 1790-1910
Census records between 1790-1910

How to Prove Native American Ancestry
YouTube video- Join Ancestry.com own barefoot genealogist, Crista Cowan, as she shows you the answer to this week's question: I believe my ancestor was Native American/Indian. How do I prove that?

Recommended Books

**Ancestors : A Beginner's Guide to Family History and Genealogy**
by Jim Willard, Terry Willard, Jane Wilson. Houghton Mifflin Co, 1997.

**Unpuzzling Your Past : A Basic Guide to Genealogy**
by Emily Anne Croom. Betterway Publications, 1995.

**The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy**
by Christine Rose, Kay Germain Ingalls. MacMillan General Reference, 1997.

**Family Pride : The Complete Guide to Tracing African-American Genealogy**
by Donna Beasley. MacMillan General Reference, 1997.

**Netting Your Ancestors**
by Cyndi Howell. Genealogical Pub Co, 1997.

**//Genealogy Online : Researching Your Roots//**
by Elizabeth Powell Crowe. Computing McGraw-Hill, 1996.

These books are available through Ohiolink or SearchOhio catalogs.
For additional searches, search the subject heading using the following terms in either Ohiolink or UA Catalog:

• Genealogy
• Genealogy-Computer networking sources
• United States--Geneaology-Handbooks, manuals